


The Proposal

by therune



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Fluff and Humor, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 14:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13683135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therune/pseuds/therune
Summary: Piper has had enough of interruptions from superheroes and villains and exes. He is going to propose to his boyfriend even if it kills him.





	The Proposal

It was going to be perfect. 

When James had suggested a romantic get-away (which was not related to him robbing a mob boss, where are you getting these ideas, Piper? I’m offended. But yeah, get packing) Piper thanked the universe and let his hand briefly rest on the small box he’d been carrying in his pocket for months now. Inside was a slim golden ring. He had lost count of how many times he had psyched himself up for finally asking the big question. 

Sometimes it was his nerves getting in the way, that inner voice of self doubt that sounded remarkably like his father that asked if he really thought that James would say yes, that James would ever want him. Which - rationally speaking - was ridiculous, especially when coming up inside the furniture store when they were looking at dinner tables since Hartley’s table had been turned into a workbench and bore several burns from soldering irons and was scratched beyond belief and James’ table wasn’t a dinner table as much as a roulette table covered with a fancy tablecloth. 

 

At other times, he had to admit that the occasion was just not right. A nice dinner in a fancy restaurant, good glass of wine and then the windows shattered because the Flash had created a sonic boom while fighting an alien. So they spent the evening picking glass shards out of their hair and clothes. A walk in the park – and seriously, how could you screw up a literal walk in the park? - turned into a hurried escape from an angry superpowered gorilla. And – ok, yeah, that one time he screwed up when they ran into an ex of his who hadn’t taken their break-up well and after some sneering, Piper had punched him in the face. While James actually had been in a really good mood after laughing at said ex, Piper had felt that asking James to marry him while he himself sported busted knuckles and a bit of blood on his shirt, was not like he wanted to remember the proposal for the rest of his life.

 

So, romantic get-away. Quaint little bed&breakfast in a small country town.? Check. Nice weather? No, because of course the happiest day of his life would be overcast and cold. James? Well, he made up for all the rest. He had let Piper drive because “you’re the worst backseat driver I’ve ever seen and I’ve driven Len to the airport once and wanted to strangle him two minutes in”, had let Piper take over the music, obligingly fed him snacks during the journey and when there were long stretches of nothing and the road was perfectly straight, he gently rested his hand on top of Piper’s on the gear stick. And the state being Kanas, there had been lots of those stretches.

And he hadn’t made fun of Piper who was just tired after being in the car for so long and their first evening turned from ‘exploring the town’ to 'watching Netflix on the bed for half an hour before falling asleep’.

But this day…this day was going to be perfect. Reservations at the best restaurant in town? Check. Romantic walk afterwards? Check. Hiring a bunch of people to prepare a pavillion in the park with blankets, fairy lights, a space heater and decoration? Check.

 

The evening couldn’t come soon enough. James knew that something was up. He always knew everything. Well, he knew about half the time what was up and bluffed his way through the rest, but he’d known Piper for half his life, so he definitely sensed that something was in the air.

 

“You’re looking sharp today,” he remarked while Piper fixed his tie in the mirror. James was already done with his evening preparations; a dark suit, no tie and a blindingly bright yellow shirt and hair that was so perfect Piper couldn’t tell if it was artfully disheveled or just disheveled and he didn’t care because James was the most beautiful person he’d ever met. Meanwhile Piper had carefully shaved, then showered, laid out his clothes, panicked when he couldn’t find the ring box, nearly sobbd in relief when he found the box in his other jacket pocket, forgotten he’d showered already, did it again and then got dressed.

In the mirror, Piper watched as James slid gracefully off the couch armrest he’d been perched on – sometimes he was convinced James was playing 'the floor is lava’ game with himself for days on end without others noticing. He fondly remembered the time they had actually played that, back in the golden days where life was simple and they’d been bank robbers. It had lasted for 20 hilarious minutes before the cheating had started. Len arguing that an ice slide was legitimate and not against the rules, the others pointing out that the slide would melt, Mark not-so-subtly floating in the air, Roy arguing that a rainbow slide was comprised of light and so impervious to lava and should thus be exempt from the previously established 'no slides’ rule, Digger sabotaging people by throwing everything he could get his hands on at everyone, and finally Mick claiming he was invincible in his suit and declared himself 'God of Lava’. Piper was stirred out of his memories when James walked up behind him, embraced him and then planted a soft kiss to his temple.

“Ready for our valentine’s date?”

As James buried his head in Piper’s shoulder, squeezing him tightly, Piper looked his mirror-self straight into the eyes and nodded. Yes, he was ready. Today was the day.

 

The restaurant was decorated with blinking lights, candles on every table, pink hearts on the walls and ceiling. Every table was filled with couples in their best clothes, holding hands, gazing into each others’ eyes and drinking overpriced champagne.

“And they call me a crook – for these prices, we could have stayed at the Ritz in Central and ordered lobsters with the room service. What a cheap, money-grabbing excuse of a …” Piper trailed off. God damn it! Stop ruining your wedding proposal with a rant of this capitalistic exploitation of a ….fuck, he had said the last part aloud, hadn’t he?

“So, Valentine’s Day is a capitalistic exploitation of a …what, darling?” James asked with a fey grin, tangling his fingers with Piper’s.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to ruin our date with another of my,” he rotated his free hand, searching for a better word than 'socialist rants’. He found none.

“Socialist rants?” James suggested.

“You know me too well,” Piper admitted and hastily drank his over-priced champagne.

“Nah, I don’t mind. On the surface it’s this kitschy love-fest – and I love kitschy, you know me – but below that… it’s far more interesting.”

“How so?”

James grinned – oh, the shark grin, that promised excitement – and leant forward. His lips brushed Piper’s left ear and he whispered “Look to the couple to our right.”

Piper took another sip and subtly glanced to where James had indicated. A middle-aged man in a steel-grey tuxedo dining on - huh – lobsters with a pretty woman in a tasteless pink dress.

So quietly that only Piper could hear, James said, covering his mouth with his fingers to stop his grin from showing too much, “that’s not his wife. And she’s pregnant.”

Only years of exposure to James and his particular brand of comedic timing prevented Piper from spitting his drink over the table.

“White space on his ring finger where normally there’s a ring, easy to detect when cmpared to his usual level of fake tan. Recently had facial surgery, mostly eyes, the skin doesn’t move right. She hasn’t touched her drink all evening and keeps pushing the food around. Every other minute she rests her hand - like that – on her abdomen. She knows, and she’s gonna tell him. Asking when he’s gonna leave his wife.”

“It’s both hot and faintly disturbing when you do that,” Piper replied, mostly recovered from the shock.

“You love me for it,” James gave back, tightening his grip on Piper’s fingers for a second and winked.

And it was true. Piper loved James because… he was funny. Genuinely funny and loved to make him laugh. Beause he was smart and often knew what Piper needed or wanted to say even before Piper knew it himself. Because he looked at people, saw through them like glass and then he looked at Piper and smiled. Piper knew he was a ball of issues wrapped in layers of neuroses, but James loved him anyway, saw every flaw and didn’t care. Because he was a dork who didn’t have a sense of fashion or a care for social norms and because Piper was the same.

 

“I do,” Piper whispered and squeezed back.

 

He spent the rest of the dinner hiding a smile behind the napkin as James analyzed the other couples and came up with sometimes outlandish, sometimes mundane realizations. They left and were putting on their coats just as the man on the neighboring table leapt to his feet.

“I can’t leave Moira, you know that. We have kids!”

“You promised, Peter! What about me? What about our kid? What about Peter junior?”

The man looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

They left before they could see how that situation turned out.

 

Hand in hand, they walked towards the small park where Piper had set up his surprise.

“Dinner and a show, you spoil me,” James accused him. Piper smiled, then led him to the pavillion. He sensed a tension in James. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise,” Piper promised.

They turned a corner, around snow covered trees and a lone street lamp.

It was even better than imagined. The lights were woven in garlands around the pavillion. Blankets and pillows covered the floor, the soace heater was hidden behind a pillar but Piper could feel the warmth from where he was standing.

James was speechless, a rare feat. Now or never…

Piper went down on one knee. James’ mouth fell open.

“I love you. More than anything. I’ve… I’ve had a whole speech memorized,” Piper admitted and laughed nervously, “but now I can’t remember a single word. Just… I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?”

James looked at him, blushing. He didn’t say a word. Then he dropped to his knees and grabbed Piper’s face with his hands before kissing him. It felt like a wave crashing against him and Piper was powerless to resist. He forgot to breathe, was crying with happiness. Gently, he cradled the back of James’ neck and broke the kiss.

“That’s a yes?”

“If you couldn’t tell, I must not have done it right,” James joked and kissed him again. Piper was so happy that he-

“I forgot the ring!” In a panic he broke their connection and patted his pockets. “I can’t believe I forgot it, I’ve been carrying it around for months and-” he finally found it and presented the ring to James.

“It’s perfect.” With trembling fingers, he pushed it onto James’ ring finger. James looked happier than he’d ever seen him.

 

They cuddled on the blankets. James was lying between Piper’s legs, his back pressed to Piper’s chest. He held up the hand with the ring and watched the reflection of the fairy lights. Piper’s hands rested on James’ belly.

“For months, you say?”

“Hm? Oh… I never got the timing right. It was supposed to be perfect and…you remember when we were at Da Vincenzo, your favorite pizza place?”

“When the windows shattered due to Twinkletoes? Oh… yes, that would be bad timing. How many times did you face bad timing, so to speak?”

“Of the supervillain kind… 7, I think. But then there’s also ordinary life in the way and every time I had planned for this, something came up. But this… this was the perfect opportunity.”

“Yes, yes, it was,” James said softly and got to his feet, “much as I love the set-up, I’m getting cold and numb. What do you think about going back to our room with a comfy bed?”

He grinned. Cheshire grin, that bode well. As he stood up, Piper wondered when exactly he’d begun to categorize James’ smiles and grins and how he had ended up with at least 25 indentifiable variations.

James led him back to the bed&breakfast, the ring glinting between them.

 

When Piper opened the door to their room, he briefly thought he somehow managed to confuse it for someone else’s. There were flower petals strewn through the room, on the table and the bed. Music was playing softly, a bottle of wine and two glasses were on the table. About 20 white and golden balloons were floating against the ceiling. James closed the door behind him.

As Piper turned around to ask him what was going on, James sank on one knee gracefully, produced a small box from his coat pocket with a flourish, opened it and presented Piper with a silver ring.

 

“You beat me to it.”


End file.
